Thursday, March 27, 2008

A fond memory of Poland

Northbound combined tow, near Wroclaw, Poland
Click pic to see Flickr page, or here to view the image Large

Visiting Poland last August, I came across this convoy on the river Odra. The towboat pushed the hull of a newly built tugboat backwards towards the sea port Stettin. The superstructure of the new boat lay in the barge at the front of the convoy, due to limited height of the bridges and locks. The helmsman of the towboat couldn't see over the convoy, but was assisted by a man on the roof behind him who told him how to manoeuvre.




Saturday I'll be flying to Poland again, to explore the waterways and the industrial area around Katowice. I am looking forward to that 5-day trip and I might come home with a few photos...

10 comments:

Vallypee said...

We'se'll miss you Koosje, we'se'll being Sin and I. Hoping you have a fantabulous time in Katowice and bring back loads of stunning photies

Dale said...

Koos, what truly amazed me was the bridge in the background!

Yes it's what doesn't go on in your head that gets me!

grace said...

safe travels Koos! Look forward to your photos, they are always amazing.

Dale said...

Is that a swing bridge?

Vallypee said...

Or a swung bridge...

MargieCM said...

Quote of the week from Koos Fernhout:

"I might come home with a few photos".

Yes, Koos, and I might have a small glass of wine with my dinner tonight.

Nice images, Koos. Where there's a will, eh? You Europeans are so resourceful. I look forward to seeing some more when you get back.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for good wishes and comments! I'm now in the dungeons of the ugliest and smelliest station you'l ever see:
http://tinyurl.com/26fal9
I am doing well, but my program was way too ambitious, so I can do less than half the things I had planned.

Ended up in Krakow today, and that's a must-see. Paris, Brussels, Bruges and then a few other nice places all rolled up in one.
Lots of tourists even this earlz in the season.
Camethrough Oświęcim but gave the obvious tourist attraction a wide berth.

Oh and Dale, the bridge on the photo is a fixed one.
The funnz man on the roof is there exactlz for that reason.

Must run now, mz bums too sore for riding the folding bike now.

Love
Koos

PS Oświęcim used to be called Auschwitz

Koos F said...

Oh and that writing was really me. The keyboard was acting funny, refused the @ so I couldn't log in and type ''s.
In fact it wasn't funny, I'd just pushed the numlock thingie, which is supposed to be 'on'.

I met a woman who didn't know the Cold War was over. She sent me away from a lock where I took pictures. They used to be of strategic interest, like railway bridges, some 25 years ago. Now, with satellite photos and Google Earth these things are out in the open, so why be so protective? Anyway, I should say thanks to her, for now I took pics in the sneak. Much more adventurous that way.

Reading through my first comment: I like the systematic replacement of y with z. Looks literary. Must do that more often.

MargieCM said...

The Cold War is over? No-one ever tells me anything.

I've been told by several people now how beautiful Krakow is - Mads is one of them. I must get there one day. Oświęcim is a great looking word - I didn't know about the renaming. How is it pronounced? As for the place itself, that's another one Madeleine ventured into - the students on the orchestra tour she was with were given the choice of whether or not to go. As she has some family history of that appalling persecution, she felt it was necessary for her to go to acknowledge the reality; that to abstain would somehow be to deny it, or at the very least be disrespectful. She doesn't talk about it though, so it obviously distressed her. I'm not surprised you gave it a wide berth.

As for your substitute "z", I thought you were just being Polish, although that would be "x" I suppose. I agree it does look rather impressive.

Koos F said...

That's a most thoughtful comment you write about the mental minefield that this subject is, Margie. I've heard people who've been there. They found it chilling.
On a lighter note, the answer to your question about pronunciation is in my post A Misty Day In Katowice.